Semaphore-signal



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. THORNBURGH,

SEMAPHORE SIGNAL, No. 308,013. Patented Nov. 11, 1884.

WITNESSfES %,%W BY ATTORNEYS.

N. PETEHS, Plwio-lilhnmphtr. Washington. D. C

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. THORNBUBGH.

SEMAPHORE SIGNAL. No. 308,013. Patented Nov. 11, 1884.

INVENIOR /Mawz /k/ ATTORNEYS.

r N. PEYEBS. Fhoiol-ithogmphun wasmn ton, n. C.

4 Sheets-Sheet a.

(No Model.)

w. THORNBURGH. SEMAPHORE SIGNAL.

. No. 308,013. Patented Nov. 11 1884.

INVENTOR :YATTOBNEYS.

WITNESSES M (No Model.)

' 4 SheetsSheet 4. W. THORNBURGH.

SBMAPHORE $IGNAL No. 308,013. Patented Nov. 11, 1884.

WITNESSES BY \MM/vvw v ATTORNEYS.

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UNIT ST TES ATENT Enron.

\VILLIAM THORNBURGH, OF ELYRIA, OHIO.

SEMAPHORE-SIGNAL.

SPECIPICATIOI? forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,013, dated November 11, 188%.

Application filed June 6,1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM THORNBURGH, of Elyria, in the county'of Lorain and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Semaphore-Signal, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved semaphoresignal for governing and regulating the movements of railway-trains at grade-crossings, draw-bridges, block-stations, terminals, switches, 85c.

The invention consists in'the combination,

- with an upright frame having tubular standards, of rods sliding in the standards, and wings pivoted in the top of the frame and connected with the rods, which rods are operated by suitable hand-levers.

The invention further consists in providing two single wings and two pairs of wings, in the frame of which wings a single wing and a pair of wings swing'from each side of the frame.

The invention further consists in the combination, with the said sliding rods and wings, of a lantern-box held in the upright frame, and of glass slides connected with the vertically-movable rods.

The invention also consists in various parts and details and combinations of the same, as

will be fully described and set forth hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is aface-view of my improved railroad-signal, parts being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a side view, parts being shown in section on the line :0 m, Fig. 1. Fig. his a plan view of the signal. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional plan view on the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the trundling wheel and'its guide. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the lantern and the slides in the same. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional elevation of the same on the line 00' m, Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is detail side view of the arrangement of the wings.

An upright frame is formed of four cornertnbes, A, united at the top by suitable crosspieces, on which a hood, A, is formed for protecting the pivots of the wings pivoted in the top of the upright frame.

Through the corner-tubes A rods 0 O O C, pass loosely in such a manner that they can be worked up and down, which rods are adapted to operate the signals in a manner that will be set forth hereinafter.

To the lower ends of the rods 0 0* conecting-bars D D are pivoted, which connecting bars have'their opposite ends mounted to rock on a transverse shaft, E, and the said bars D and D are provided on the ends mounted to turn on the shaft E with downwardly-projecting arms F and F", which form an angle with the bars D and D*. Handle-levers d and (1* are rigidly secured or formed on the bars and arms bars D D and their arms 1? F* can be operated by means of the said levers d and (1. Counterbalancing -weights G and G are suspended from the lower ends of the rods 0 and O. The free ends of the arms F'F are connected by connecting-rods c c with grooved wheels I) b, which run in the guide-frames g g, and the said wheels have their pivots connected by bars h h, with the inner ends of the levers or bars D D". The lower ends of the rods 0 C are pivoted to the inner ends of levers or bars D D, also mounted to turn on the shaft E, and pro vided with arms F F, which are connected by rods 0" c with wheels I) 1) running in guideframes g and connected by bars h h with the inner ends of the levers D \Veights G G are secured on the lower ends of the rods 0 C. These levers are preferably surrounded by a suitable casing, 1 The shaftE is either journaled in the sides of the casing l or in suitable supports secured on the bottom of the said casing. The connectingbars D D and their arms F" F are provided with suitable handle-levers,d'- d. On the four tubular standards Atwo horizontal partitions, H H, are secured, and between the same a casing, H is arranged, whereby a box is formed which is adapted to receive the lamp I. On two op- D F and D" F* at the angle, whereby the said 7 posite sides of the casing H bulls-eyes or lenses J are held. On each rod 0, G Ogand 0* a glass slide, K, K K K, is held, respectively, behind the lens J, the said glass slides projecting inopposite directions and having their free ends guided in grooved pieces 7c,

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formed on the inner surface of the casing 11. On the top plate or] partition, H, a chimney or hood, 1', is formed over the lamp I. lenses J must be so arranged that the lightrays passing through the same are thrown in the direction of the length of the track. In the top of the frame formed of the tubular standards a transverse shaft, L, is secured, on which are loosely mounted six' wings, M on M M M of. The wings M m form one signal, the wings M m another, and the wings M and M each form a separatesignal; or, in other words, when the signal is given by the arms M m and M m,two arms are always required to complete the signal. The wings M and M are pivoted at their inner ends on the longitudinal central line to swing freely on the shaft L, and are provided with an upward-projecting lug, N or N, connected by a rod, 0 or O,with the corresponding vertical rod, 0 C. The wings M m M m are also pivoted to swing loosely on the shaft L, and the wings M M are provided with upwardlyprojecting lugs N N respectively, which are connected by connecting-rods O O with the upper ends of the rods 0 C. The wings m and 'm are each provided with a short segmental slot, P or P, into which slots pins Q or Q pass from the wings M M. The wings M m and M m" are painted red,and the wings M M are painted green. The signal-wings M, m, and M swing from one side of the standard, and the signal-wings M m Mswing from the other side of the standard.

The operation is as follows: If a signal is to be given by means of two arms-for instance, M m-the corresponding lever, d,is swung in the direction of the arrow a, whereby the roller 1) will be moved in the direction of the arrow a, whereby the lower end of the bar his moved in the direction of the arrow a", thus permitting the weight G to'move downward,thereby pulling the corresponding rod, 0, downward. By this movement of the rod 0 the connecting-rod O is pulled downward, and swings the wing M into the position X in Fig. 8. When the wing M is in this position, the lower end of the slot 1? strikes against the pin Q on the wing m, and the wing m will now swing with the wing M, whereby the wing Mis brought into the position shown at Y in Fig. 8, and thereby its wing m is brought into the position shown at X, Fig. 8; or the signals are in the same position as shown in Fig. 1. At the same time that the rod 0 is moved downward the glass plate K is moved downward and will be held behind the lens J The glass plate K is colored red to correspond with the color of the wings M in, so that a red light will be shown at night during the time that the wings M m are in position to giv'e the signal. If the wings M m are to be swung down, the lever d is swung in the inverse direction of the arrow a, whereby the rod 0 is raised and the slide K is also raised. If the signal is to be given by means of the wings M The v ,in the opposite direction.

m the slide K will be lowered in the manner described above. If the signal is to be given by means of the single wing M the lever d is swung up in the inverse direction of the arrow c whereby the inner end of the lever D is swung down, and at the same time the roller b is moved in the direction of the arrow a, and thereby the rod 0 is moved downward, and the wing M is swung into the horizontal position. At the same time the rod 0" is moved downward, its slide K which'is green, is placed behind the bulls-eye or lens J, so that the signal will show a green light. If the signal is to be removed, the wing M is swung down by moving the rod 0' upward, which is accomplished by swinging the lever (l in the direction of the arrow a.

In my apparatus I have signals for trains moving in two directions, the wings M m M being for trains running in one direction, and the wings M m M" being for trains running For example, if a two-wing signal is shown by the wings M m, the corresponding single wing is lowered; but the other signal-wing,M*, may be raised or lowered, or the other double wing, M of, may be raised or lowered. The single wings are thus entirely independent of each other. It is evident that the green and red signals on the same side of the signal-standard will not be used at the same time; but the green and red signals at opposite sides of the signal-standard can be used at the same time, as may be desired.

The above-described signal can be erected on the ground adjoining the station or a blocksignal line, 820.; or it can be erected on topof a building, or in any other prominent place. It can be made of any desired height, and the wings, lamps, &c., can be made of any suit-- able size, as may be necessary.

Instead of operating the rods directly from the hand-levers, as shown, suitable connecting-rods may be interposed between the handlevers and the rods for operating the wings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a semaphore-signal, the combination of a tubular standard, asignal-wing pivoted near the upper end of the standard, a sliding rod arranged in the standard and connected to one end of the wing by a pivoted arm arranged above the wing, to adapt the rod to elevate the wing by being drawn downward, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a semaphore-signal, the combination 3. A semaphore-signal consisting of a frame having tubular standards, sliding rods arranged in the standards, pivoted wings located at the upper ends of the standards and connected to the rods, colored-glass slides connected to the rods, and lenses or bnlls eyes, and a lantern, arranged as shown and described.

4. A semaphore-signal constructed with a frame having tubular standards in which standards rods slide, a separate lever for operating each rod, and wings connected with the rods, substantially as herein shown and described.

5. In a semaphoresignal, the combination, with a vertically-sliding rod and a pivoted wing connected to and operated by said rod, of a second wing mounted on the pivot of the first wing and connected to said wing, substantially as described, whereby the wings will be successively operated, as set forth.

6. In a semaphore-signal, the combination,

-with a tubular standard, a pivoted signalwing provided with a lateral pin, a sliding rod arranged in the standard and connected to 'said wing, and means for operating said sliding rod, of a second wing provided with a segmental slot to receive the pins of the first wing, substantially as herein shown and described.

7 In a semaphore-signal, the combination, with tubular standards, four sliding rods, and four pivoted wings connected and operated by said rods, of two additional wings connected to two of the first-named wings, to be operated successively thereby, substantially as herein shown and described.

8. In asemaphore-signal, the combination of a frame having tubular standards and alanternbox held on the said standards, sliding rods in the standards, wings connected with the rods, and slides secured on the rods within the lantern-box, substantially as herein shown and described.

9. A semaphore-signal constructed with a frame having tubular standards, a lanternbox held on the said standards, sliding rodsin the standards, wings connected with the rods,

glass slides secured on the rods within the v with a supporting-frame and four verticallysliding rods, of a single wing, and a pair of wings arranged on each side of the frame and connected together and to the said sliding rods, substantially as herein shown and described.

11. In a semaphore-signal, the combination, with a pivoted wing, of a vertically-sliding rod connected with the wing, a weight secured on the lower end of the rod, alever pivoted to the lower end of the rod and connected with a handle-lever, and a brace-bar pivoted to the inner end of the lever at the lower end of the rod, which brace-bar is provided on its lower end with a roller, substantially as herein shown and described.

12. In a semaphore-signal, the combination, with a pivoted wing, of a vertically-sliding rod connected with the wing, the weight G, secured on the lower end of the rod, the lever D, having one end pivoted to the lower end of the rod, the handle-lever d, the arm F, the rod 0, pivoted to the free end of the arm F, the roller or wheel 12, pivoted to the inner end of the rod 0, the guide 9, and the brace-bar h, pivoted to the inner end of the lever D, and to the inner end of the rod a, substantially as herein shown and described.

13. In a semaphore-signal, the combination,

with a suitable upright frame, of a sliding 'rod connected with a single wing pivotedin the said frame, and of an additional sliding rod connected with two wings pivoted in the said frame, substantially as herein shown and de scribed. WILLIAM THORNBURGH.

Witnesses:

THOMAS J. SHANIER,

GEORGE W. SHUMWAY. 

